T*eccniber  24,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
579 
C'la.ss.  Lady  Cranston,  the  wliite  sport  from  Mrs.  Barkley,  is  the 
^ein  of  this  year,  and  is  one  of  tlie  most  lovely  flowers  I  have  ever 
.seen. — A.  Jefferies,  Moor  Hall  Cardens,  Ls.sex. 
he  made  np  without  them?  I  wonld  ask.  That  even  is  no  proof 
the  hloom.s  will  be  .seen  in  the  finest  condition  next  year. 
—  S.vuoc. 
I  never  felt  more  relieved  in  my  life  than  1  did  this  morning 
(Friday,  December  18)  when  reading  the  letters  from  R.  Barnes 
and  “  A.  H.”  on  page  5(jl.  Since  reading  “  Sadoc’s  ”  letter  of 
the  week  previous  I  felt  .sort  of  “  mixed  up.”  I  wondered  if  it 
was  “  Sadoc,”  or  mj-self,  or  the  “  iMnms  ”  he  named  that  had 
gone  wrong,  becamse  I  have  taken  particular  notice  of  the  best 
varieties  from  west  to  ea.st,  and  from  sontli  to  north  this  year, 
for  a  very  special  purpose.  Mo.st  of  those  which  “Sadoc” 
mentions  as  being  in  a  decline  I  find,  on  referring  to  my  notes, 
have  been  in  the  very  best 'form.  i\nd  I  find  that  I  have  given 
many  of  those  declining  varieties  a  position  amongst  the  best 
24  Japs  in  exi.stence.  The  “proof”  has  reached  me  from  the 
printers,  and  I  could  not  find  courage  to  alter  the  position  I 
had  given  them;  neither  did  I,  in  .sjute  of  “Sadoc’s”  article. 
Therefore  this  morning’s  “  J.  of  H.”  took  quite  a  big  doubt  off 
my  mind,  this  being.  Which  of  the  three  was  wrong?  It 
appears  it  could  not  have  been  me,  or  the  “Mums.” — W.  Wells, 
Earlswood. 
I  am  not  surprised  to  find  my  remarks  on  page  532  taken 
exception  to  by  what  I  term  sentimentalists  .showing  a  weak¬ 
ness  for  particular  varieties  that  have  been  great  favourites  in 
the  pa.st.  I  did  not  critici.se  the  varieties  without  due  regard 
to  facts,  as  I  have  had  abundant  opportunities  to  see  the  blooms 
pre.sented  under  varying  circumstances  of  locality,  probably 
rather  more  than  either  of  my  critics.  The  “  less  inexperienced 
readers,”  I  am  sure,  will  welcome  IMr.  R.  Barnes  as  their 
champion  to  look  after  the  interests  they  are  unable  to  per¬ 
form.  Let  us  see  what  are  the  actual  facts  of  the  difference  of 
opinion  between  us  all.  In  the  first  place  I  did  make  a  mistake 
in  de.scribing  Mrs.  T.  W.  Pockett  as  a  sport ;  it  is  one  of  Mr. 
Pockett’s  best  Australian  seedlings.  Perhaps  Mr.  Barnes  has 
seen  one  late  bloom  of  Lily  Mountford  with  sufficient  colour 
tint  to  make  it  attractive,  whereas  I  have  seen  scores,  and  not 
one  of  them  anything  equal  to  what  it'  was  when  fir.st  intro¬ 
duced.  J.  R.  Upton,  now,  is  generally  the  palest  of  yellow 
instead  of  that  rich  golden  yellow  which  was  its  charm.  Mrs. 
Barkley  has  been  most  “  washy  ”  in  its  colouring,  which 
denotes  weakness  in  constitution ;  the  florets,  too,  are  flabby 
and  badly  formed. 
Florence  INIolyneux  has  lost  size  of  bloom,  and  that  whirl 
of  floret  that  was  its  great  characteristic,  in  spite  of  many 
attempts  “  to  grow  it  properly.”  Perhaps  Mr.  Barnes  will 
supply  the  remedy  in  that  respect,  and  also  how  to  get  rid  of 
the  gi-een  tinge  that  has  so  persistently  characterised  W.  R. 
Church  this  season.  I  note  Mr.  Barnes  has  a  qualm  about  Mrs. 
J.  Lewis,  M.  Louis  Remy,  and  Le  Grand  Dragon.  He  says  : 
“  Given  a  Fetter  season,  there  is  no  reason  why  they  may  not 
be  as  good  as  ever.”  He  will  find  something  more  is  wanted 
to  elongate  the  petals  to  their  former  length.  T.  Carrington 
and  Australie  have  been  often  shown,  but  how  ?  Why,  with¬ 
out  that  perfect  curl  and  density  of  petal  that  was  their  great 
charm.  The  change  in  them  now  so  palpable  is  the  stepping- 
stone  to  oblivion !  Madame  Cadbury  has  lo.st  breadth  and 
length  of  floret.  I  do  not  connect  Lady  Ridgeway  with  the 
hairy  section  as  Mr.  Barnes  a.ssumes.  Ah!  Mr.  Barnes,  I  was 
told  years  ago  “  never  to  a.ssume  anything.”  If  Duchess  of 
Sutherland  does  not  belong  to  the  incurving  .Japanese  section, 
to  what  does  it  belong? 
I  will  now  turn  to  “  A.  H.*,”  who  is  no  doubt  an  enthu¬ 
siast  possibly  with  a  limited  scope  of  practical  ob.servation, 
although  from  his  own  .showing  he  is  a  deep  reader  of  reports. 
The  fact  of  W.  R.  Church  being  staged  so  many  times  does  no’t 
improve  its  individual  quality.  The  reports  of  .shows  and 
cla.s.ses,  which  are  now  .numerous,  must  be  made  up  with  some 
varieties.  If  none  but  those  that  are  staged  in  the  be.st  condi¬ 
tion  were  eligible,  how  could  we  get  competition?  Where  one 
bloom  of  W.  R.  Church  had  the  “green  tips”  when  it  first 
came  to  light,  hundreds  have  it  now.  I  have  a  hazy  recollec¬ 
tion  of  complaints  being  made  that  this  variety  then  showed 
too  much  colour  for  some  (tho.se  who  could  not  produce  it). 
What  cau.se  is  there  now  for  the  change?  I  would  ask.  Hark¬ 
ing  back  in  a  sentimental  way  will  not  win  prizes.  Replacing 
those  varieties  that  have  done  good  service  by  their  superiors 
is  the  way  to  do  this.  Sentimentalists  are  only  notorious  in 
that  one  line.  The  rage  at  the  pi-esent  time  is  forward,  no  time 
for  looking  back  ;  there  are  plenty  to  do  that !  He  that  wins 
hesitates  not. 
The  fact  of  Guy  Hamilton  and  L.  IMountford  winning 
certificates  for  premier  blooms  is  not  a  proof  of  their  excellence, 
but  rather  a  weakness  in  their  opponents.  Perhaps  “A.  H.” 
will  tell  us  how  to  produce  Mrs.  J.  Lewis  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  class  it  as  one  of  the  be.st  whites.  Does  he  sav  the  Cardiff 
blooms  were  equal  to  those  staged  at  the  N.C.S.  November 
Show  two  sea.sons  ago?  I  do  not  doubt  for  one  moment  that 
many  varieties  I  point  to  as  having  had  their  dav  will  be  found 
well  up  in  the  next  analysis.  How  can  a  list  of  fifty  varieties 
Tile  Proposed  Gardeners’  Association. 
Two  very  interesting  letters  on  the  above  project  apiiear  on 
page  53<j,  the  first  from  a  no  less  authority  than  Mr.  F.  W. 
Burbidge,  and  the  second  from  ‘‘ W.  B.,”  who  is  evidently  a  man  of 
careful  thought.  Mr.  Burbidge  is  evidently  in  favour  of  the 
association;  but  “W.  B.”  ask.s  pointed  questions.  Like  a  good 
many  other  people,  he  does  not  appear  to  be  quite  clear  what  the 
objects  of  the  proposed  association  are,  and  how  it  is  going  to 
benefit  gardeners  generally,  either  financially  or  socially.  Of 
course,  the  promoters  of  the  idea  may  see  further,  but  it  is  quite 
evident  that  the  task  before^  them  is  beset  vith  difficulties.  I 
quite  agree  with  “  W.  B.”  that  the  association,  if  formed,  must 
not  be  in  any  way  antagonistic  to  employers.  In  fact,  it  must  have 
no-  suspicion  of  being  a  trade  union,  nor  must  it  attempt  to 
dictate  to  employers,  owing  to  the  peculiarity  of  the  gardener’s 
position. 
I  quite  think  that  the  intelligence  and  general  bearing  of  the 
average  gardener  are  sufficient  to  place  him  above  the  ordinary  run 
of  domestic  servants  ;  but  he  is  a  luxury  nevertheless.  Even  the 
meanest  employe  in  a  factory  or  workshop  is  so  much  a  part  of 
the  concern  that  ho  has  a  claim  on  it,  and  his  employer  cannot 
do  without  him  if  ho  is  to  make  money  out  of  his  busine.ss,  hence 
the  power  of  labour  union.  But  the  gardeneFs  case  is  different 
altogether,  as  he  caters  for  the  pleasure,  and  not  the  pocket  [?] 
of  his  employer,  and  is,  therefore,  dispensable.  Again,  there  are 
so  many  grades  of  gardeners,  that  even  the  definition  of  the  word 
is  not  clear.  In  short,  the  gardening  door  is  always  wide  open, 
and  if  anyone  who  potters  about  for  a  year  or  two  in  a  horti¬ 
cultural  establi.shment  like.s  to  style  himself  a  full  fledged  gar¬ 
dener,  who  is  to  say  him  nay?  One  question,  therefore,  is 
whether  the  association  will  e.stabli.sh  grades  of  gardeners,  and 
how  will  the  distinctions  be  made?  It  seems  po.ssible,  even 
probable,  that  the  association,  if  formed,  may  do  good  and  be 
of  some  help  to  gardeners  ;  but  I  am  afraid  that  there  is  not  much 
hope  unless  it  is  founded  on  lines  that  are  not  in  any  way  dis- 
ta.steful  to  the  majority  of  employers.  A  union  of  colliers  or 
bricklayers  may  demand  certain  terms,  but  a  union  of  gardeners, 
must  ask  for  them,  and  be  extremely  careful  also  how  the  request, 
is  put. — H.  _ 
It  is  truly  gratifying  to  see  that  an  idea  which  has  occupied 
the  minds  of  many  intelligent  gardeners  is  on  the  eve  of  becoming 
an  accomplished  fact.  In  all  the  debates  upon  the  subject  which 
I  have  heard,  mo.st  emphasis  was  always  placed  upon  the  impor¬ 
tant  question  of  finding  situations.  In  Scotland,  some  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  ago,  the  glut  of  gardeners  was  very  much  out 
of  proportion  to  the  demand,  and  consequently  places  were  less, 
easily  acquired.  After  the  great  calamity  to  the  country  caused 
by  the  City  of  Gla.sgow  Bank  failure,  the  outlook  was  indeed 
anything  but  bright  for  the  gardener,  in  whatever  sphere  he 
laboured.  If  a  journeyman,  and  he  failed  to  get  suited  on  the 
“  Term  Day,”  he  had  to  divide  his  chances  cf  getting  reinstated  in 
the  spring,  between  the  precarious  employment  and  pay  afforded 
by  the  nursery  (and  even  that  was  welcome  to  many  a  young 
fellow)  and  the  length  of  time  his  nece.ssarily  small  savings  would 
help  him  to  eke  out  an  exi.stence  in  lodgings  in  the  Metropolis. 
Foremen’s  chances  were  very  much  less,  and  as  for  head  situations 
they  are  perhaps  always  scarce,  but  a.bout  this  period  such  were 
only  got  with  difficulty.  The  writer  experienced  his  share  of  this 
depression,  though  never  disemployed  since  he  began. 
I  saiv  then  tliat  there  wa.s  room  for  a  better  arrangement  of 
the  emplo,yment  of  gardeners  b,v  the  formation  of  a  huge  cor¬ 
porate  body  such  as  that  now  aimed  at,  but  slightly  more  elaborate, 
inasmuch  as  to  include  all  regular  gardeners;  that  is,  evei-jmne 
who  served  a  full  apprenticeship.  I  fail  to  see  the  workable 
nature  of  the  new  scheme,  or  its  use,  if  it  does  not  include 
joumeymen,  for  is  not  their  share  in  the  success  of  such  an 
undertaking  as  important  from  both  .sides  of  the  que.'-ticn  as  that 
of  foremen  and  heads ?  ,, 
Another  very  important  thing  in  connection  with  tins  matter 
is  the  necessity  for  a  circulating  library  to  contain  books,  ancient 
and  modern,  'that  have  a  bearing  upon  gardening.  In  mo.A 
horticultural  associations  this  is  a  promissory  ccndition  of  the 
rules,  but  .seldom  ever  executed.  I  have  often  urged  this  necL's- 
sity  upon  some  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  bcottisli 
Horticultural  Association.  By  arrangement,,  books  could  bo 
circulated  from  the  central  library  to  all  otber  minor  as.sociations 
throughout  the  land,  thus  bringing  all  books,  otherwise  iiiipos- 
sible  of  access,  within  the  reach  of  all.  Lastly,  every  attempt 
shall  I  hope,  be  made  to  keep  any  form  of  trade  unionism  in  the 
background,  for  as  every  sensible  man  knows,  such  coercive 
measures  would  onlv  meet  with  unsuccess,  which  tliey  voiild 
deserve.  Therefore.' all  that  could  be  aimed  at  is  simpl.y  o  raise 
the  profession,  in  a  certain  measure,  out  of  the  depths  into 
which  it  has  fallen  through  the  ingress  of  irregular  professors 
and  generally  raise  the  standard  of  the  regular  pracrttionm-s 
intellect.— D.  C. 
